The oil dispute puts Baghdad in front of “big” legal problems.. Billions of compensation for Erbil (details)

[6ly410]

SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The Kurdistan Region government initiated new legal action by filing a lawsuit in Erbil against Iraq’s Oil Ministry on Saturday.

The Region’s government filed a lawsuit in Erbil and thus might complicate the Iraqi oil ministry’s legal actions against the international oil firms that operate in the Kurdistan Region, according to ‘Iraqi oil report’.

The Legal battles stepped into a new phase over the independent energy sector in the Kurdistan Region after last week, meanwhile, as the court in Baghdad decided to postpone the hearings again.

“The Oil Ministry’s lawsuit against seven international oil companies (IOCs) operating in Kurdistan would be postponed until June 20, so that all of the defendants can be served with summonses and prepare the paperwork needed to send authorized representatives” a Judge of Baghdad’s Karkh Commercial Court Mohammed Ali Mahmoud Nadeem told ‘Iraqi oil report’.

On May 28, the federal oil ministry announced that the Iraqi government intends to review contracts signed by the Kurdistan Region with oil firms.

Kurdistan’s massive untapped oil reserves, lucrative production-sharing contracts, and safe environment have prompted international oil companies over recent years to commit to investing billions of dollars there.

But in February, Iraq’s federal court deemed the oil and gas law regulating the oil industry in Kurdistan unconstitutional and demanded that the Kurdish government hand over their crude supplies.

Iraq’s federal court’s ruling gives the oil ministry in Baghdad the authority to manage oil and gas fields in Kurdistan, it also challenges the contracts that the region has made with the international oil firms.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has rejected the court’s ruling.

[Goggles]

I believe the further we see legal struggles with this issue, the closer to an HCL we are. Congrats to the Kurdistan Region for protecting themselves against the disorganized country that they are in. (But hey I'm no expert... you decide)

[6ly410]

SULAIMANI — Fazil Nabi, the former Undersecretary of the Iraqi Ministry of Finance, said on Sunday (June 12) delegations sent to Baghdad from Erbil to discuss the Kurdistan Region’s oil and gas sector do not meet the basic conditions to successfully conduct negotiations. 

Nabi said in an interview on NRT’s Panorama program that the Kurdistan Region should strengthen its position in Baghdad but the members of the delegations from Erbil do not have the authority to make decisions, rendering them unqualified for negotiations in Baghdad. 

He added the Kurdistan Region should have used the 2022 hike in oil prices as an opportunity to resolve the trouble over making salary payments and to finish service projects in the Region.

Oil prices have steadily risen since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, with prices rising above $100 a barrel in April. 

The Iraqi Federal Supreme Court issued a verdict against the KRG’s oil and gas law, ruling its oil contracts with international companies operating in the Kurdistan Region unconstitutional. 

The Kurdistan Region’s Judicial Council hit back in May, declaring the KRG’s oil contracts meet the guidelines of the Iraqi constitution of 2005.

[horsesoldier]

If you can't meet basic conditions to successfully conduct negotiations, WHAT'S THE POINT !!

Opinion piece, a statement based on facts or just utter  ???

They go round in circles, choose the most awkward path, throw hammers/screwdrivers/monkey wrenches into the wheels of progress and all you get are is the political machinery of grinding gears, plenty of smoke & squealing noises from both sides.

...and how many years has this issue been going on unresolved ? Somewhere down the line this cultural cycle of foot dragging, sandbagging, neverending bickering...hang on: am I describing their government or OURS !?!?! 😆

[6ly410]

 

[6ly410]

Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq (GOV.KRD) – On 19 May 2022, a commercial court sitting in Al Karkh, Baghdad, acted at the request of the Minister of Oil in Baghdad and purported to issue summonses to international oil companies (IOCs) operating within the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Those IOCs - which include Addax, DNO, Genel, Gulf Keystone, HKN, Shamaran, and WesternZagros - operate in the Kurdistan Region in accordance with the Kurdistan Region’s Oil and Gas Law (No. 22 of 2007), which was issued by the Kurdistan Regional Government in accordance with its powers under the Constitution of Iraq.

These court summonses are the latest in a series of illegal actions taken by the Minister of Oil and his staff under the current caretaker government in Baghdad. These illegal actions are apparently based upon a ruling by a court in Baghdad that calls itself the “Federal Supreme Court”. This so-called “Federal Supreme Court” issued a politically motivated decision on 15 February 2022, which purported to declare the 2007 Oil and Gas Law void.

No court in Baghdad has the authority to make such a declaration. On 28 February 2022, the President of the Kurdistan Region, together with the presidents of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the Kurdistan Regional Government, issued a statement rejecting the 15 February decision. On 4 June 2022, the Judicial Council, the highest judicial institution in the Kurdistan Region, issued a statement upholding the validity of the 2007 Oil and Gas Law. The Council noted that Article 92(2) of the Constitution of Iraq requires that the Iraqi Council of Representatives pass a law to establish an Iraqi Federal Supreme Court. No such law has ever been enacted. Iraq, therefore, does not have a constitutionally established Federal Supreme Court. The court that issued the 15 February 2022 opinion purporting to invalidate the 2007 Oil and Gas Law has no constitutional authority to do so. On the contrary, the issuance of the 2007 Oil and Gas Law was entirely authorised under the Constitution of Iraq. As such, legally, the Oil and Gas Law remains in full force.

On 2 June 2022, the Kurdistan Regional Government filed a criminal complaint against a Director General in the Baghdad Ministry of Oil for abusing his power and position by intimidating and harassing the IOCs working in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. In the view of the Kurdistan Regional Government, emails and letters sent to the IOCs undertaking work in the Kurdistan Region by that Director General were sent with the intention of intimidating the IOCs and interfering with the contractual rights of the IOCs and the Kurdistan Regional Government. The contracts entered into between the IOCs and the Kurdistan Regional Government are entirely in accordance with the 2007 Oil and Gas Law.

On 5 June 2022, the Erbil Court of Investigation ruled that the lawsuits filed in the Al Karkh commercial court against the IOCs must be brought to the Erbil Court to be examined as evidence in this criminal complaint. The Erbil Court also ruled that any lawsuits in the Al Karkh court must be delayed for this purpose, and that named criminal defendants, including the Baghdad Minister of Oil, must attend the criminal hearing in Erbil on 22 June 2022. Iraqi law (Article 26 of Criminal Procedural Law No. 23 of the year 1979) requires that civil proceedings cannot take place while a related criminal investigation is underway. In addition, Article 38 of Civil Procedural Law No. 83 of the year 1969 states that any civil proceeding against the IOCs must take place in the Kurdistan Region, where the IOCs are registered and operate.

Furthermore, on 5 June 2022 the Minister of Natural Resources of the Kurdistan Regional Government filed a civil suit against the Baghdad Minister of Oil. In the view of the Kurdistan Regional Government, the Minister is liable under applicable civil law provisions for sending emails and letters with the intention of intimidating the IOCs and interfering with the contractual rights of the IOCs and the Kurdistan Regional Government.

Ministry of Natural Resources

13 Jun 2022

[6ly410]

Kurdistan Ministry of Wealth: Baghdad court summons companies operating in the region illegally

PoliticiansbreakingKurdistan Regional GovernmentFederal CourtMinistry of Natural Resources

 2022-06-13 11:18

وزارة الثروات الكوردستانية: محكمة في بغداد استدعت الشركات العاملة في الاقليم بشكل غير قانوني (shafaq.com)

Shafaq News/ The Ministry of Natural Resources in the Kurdistan Regional Government reported on Monday that a court in Baghdad summoned international companies operating in the Kurdistan Region, noting that this summons was made at the request of the Federal Minister of Oil. The ministry stated, in a statement received to Shafaq News Agency, that "on May 19, 2022, the Commercial Court (Al-Karkh) in Baghdad summoned the international companies operating in the Kurdistan Region, at the request of the Iraqi Oil Minister." She pointed out that "the companies are (DNO), (Western Zagros), (HKN), (Sharman), (Ginnel Energy), (Addax) and (Gulf Keystone), which carry out their business in accordance with the law of Oil and Gas in the Kurdistan Region No. 22 of 2007, which was approved by the Kurdistan Parliament in accordance with the provisions of the Iraqi constitution. And the Ministry of Wealth in the region noted that this summons to the (Karkh) Court “the latest in a series of illegal measures taken by the Minister of Oil in the caretaker government in Baghdad, and it seems that these illegal practices are based on the ruling issued by a court in Baghdad that calls itself (the Court). The Federal Supreme Court, which issued on February 15, 2022, a politically motivated decision aimed at repealing the 2007 Oil and Gas Law in Kurdistan, while no court in Baghdad has the authority to take such a decision. And the ministry continued: "On February 28, 2022, the President of the Kurdistan Region, along with the heads of the legislative authority, the executive authority, and the Kurdistan Region Judicial Council issued a statement rejecting the decision of February 15, 2022, and on the fourth of June 2022, the Judicial Council, as the highest judicial institution in the Kurdistan Region, issued a statement supporting it. The validity of the Oil and Gas Law of 2007, and he also indicated that Article 92 / Paragraph Two of the Iraqi Constitution stipulates that the Iraqi Council of Representatives approves a law to establish the Federal Court in Iraq, but no such law has been issued so far. And she considered that "the Federal Supreme Court was not established on the basis of the constitution, which means that it does not have any constitutional authority to do such a job, as the oil and gas law related to the Kurdistan Region is still in force." The ministry stated, "On June 2, 2022, the Kurdistan Regional Government filed a lawsuit in the Erbil Investigation Court against the Director General of the Ministry of Oil in the Federal Government, for abusing his authority and position by intimidating and harassing companies operating in the Kurdistan Region."

"The Director-General was intimidating companies and interfering with their contractual rights with the Kurdistan Regional Government through letters and e-mail," she said.

"On June 5, 2022, the Erbil Court of Inquiry ruled that cases against international companies should be referred from the Karkh Commercial Court to the Erbil Court of Inquiry for investigation as evidence of a criminal complaint," the Kurdistan Regional Government's Ministry of Natural Resources said.

"The Erbil Court of Inquiry also decided to postpone any legal proceedings brought before the (Karkh) court in this regard, based on the Iraqi Criminal Procedure Law No. 23 of 1979, which makes it imperative for the Iraqi Ministry of Oil to suspend work in the Civil Court until the court of inquiry is completed and decided," she said.

"Even after the investigation has been completed on the basis of article (38) of the Iraqi Civil Arguments Act No. 83 of 1969, and in accordance with spatial jurisdiction, these cases must be judged and resolved by the Civil Court of Kurdistan Province, where all companies brought are registered and operated in Kurdistan province," she said.

"On June 5, 2022, the Minister of Natural Resources of the Kurdistan Regional Government filed a civil suit against the Minister of Oil of the Federal Government," the ministry concluded its statement.

In the view of the Kurdistan Regional Government, in accordance with the provisions of the Iraqi Civil Code, the Minister of Oil of the Federal Government is responsible for sending letters and e-mails to these companies with the aim of intimidating them and interfering with their rights to contracts with the Kurdistan Regional Government.

[6ly410]

ERBIL — The Iraqi oil minister is "liable under applicable civil law provisions" for intimidating international oil companies and interfering the contractual rights of companies and the Kurdistan Region, the region's Ministry of Natural Resources said.

"on 5 June 2022 the Minister of Natural Resources of the Kurdistan Regional Government filed a civil suit against the Baghdad Minister of Oil. In the view of the Kurdistan Regional Government, the Minister is liable under applicable civil law provisions for sending emails and letters with the intention of intimidating the IOCs and interfering with the contractual rights of the IOCs and the Kurdistan Regional Government," the ministry said in a statement on Monday.

The statement noted that earlier On May 19, 2022, a commercial court sitting in Al Karkh, Baghdad, acted at the request of the Iraqi oil minister and "purported" to issue summonses to the IOCs operating within the Kurdistan Region.

According to the statement, the companies included Addax, DNO, Genel, Gulf Keystone, HKN, Shamaran, and WesternZagros, which operate in the Kurdistan Region in accordance with the region’s Oil and Gas Law (No. 22 of 2007) issued by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) based on its powers under the Constitution of Iraq.

"These court summonses are the latest in a series of illegal actions taken by the Minister of Oil and his staff under the current caretaker government in Baghdad. These illegal actions are apparently based upon a ruling by a court in Baghdad that calls itself the “Federal Supreme Court”. This so-called “Federal Supreme Court” issued a politically motivated decision on 15 February 2022, which purported to declare the 2007 Oil and Gas Law void," the statement continued.

"No court in Baghdad has the authority to make such a declaration. On 28 February 2022, the President of the Kurdistan Region, together with the presidents of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the Kurdistan Regional Government, issued a statement rejecting the 15 February decision. On 4 June 2022, the Judicial Council, the highest judicial institution in the Kurdistan Region, issued a statement upholding the validity of the 2007 Oil and Gas Law. The Council noted that Article 92(2) of the Constitution of Iraq requires that the Iraqi Council of Representatives pass a law to establish an Iraqi Federal Supreme Court. No such law has ever been enacted. Iraq, therefore, does not have a constitutionally established Federal Supreme Court. The court that issued the 15 February 2022 opinion purporting to invalidate the 2007 Oil and Gas Law has no constitutional authority to do so. On the contrary, the issuance of the 2007 Oil and Gas Law was entirely authorised under the Constitution of Iraq. As such, legally, the Oil and Gas Law remains in full force."

Meanwhile, the Erbil Court of Investigation, on 5 June 2022, "ruled that the lawsuits filed in the Al Karkh commercial court against the IOCs must be brought to the Erbil Court to be examined as evidence in this criminal complaint. The Erbil Court also ruled that any lawsuits in the Al Karkh court must be delayed for this purpose, and that named criminal defendants, including the Baghdad Minister of Oil, must attend the criminal hearing in Erbil on 22 June 2022. Iraqi law (Article 26 of Criminal Procedural Law No. 23 of the year 1979) requires that civil proceedings cannot take place while a related criminal investigation is underway. In addition, Article 38 of Civil Procedural Law No. 83 of the year 1969 states that any civil proceeding against the IOCs must take place in the Kurdistan Region, where the IOCs are registered and operate."

[6ly410]

Regional government attacks Iraqi judiciary after recalling companies operating in Kurdistan

Economy News - Regional government attacks Iraqi judiciary after recalling companies operating in Kurdistan (economy-news.net)

   

---

Economy News - Baghdad

The Kurdistan Regional Government's Ministry of Natural Resources on Monday issued a statement on the recall of a number of international oil companies operating in the region by the Commercial Court in Baghdad.

"The Karkh Commercial Court in Baghdad has summoned international companies operating in the Kurdistan region at the request of the Iraqi oil minister," the ministry said in a statement. The companies are DNO, Western Zakros, HKN, Sharman, Gainell Energy, Addax and Golf Keystone, which operate in accordance with the Kurdistan Region Oil and Gas Act 22 of 2007, which was approved by the Kurdistan Parliament in accordance with the provisions of the Iraqi Constitution."

"This summons to the (Karkh) court represents the latest in a series of illegal actions taken by the Oil Minister of the Caretaker Government of Baghdad, and these illegal practices appear to be based on the ruling of a court in Baghdad calling itself the Supreme Federal Court, which on February 15, 2022 issued a politically motivated decision aimed at repealing the Oil and Gas Act of 2007 in Kurdistan, while no court in Baghdad has the power to make a decision," she said. Like this."

"On February 28, 2022, the President of kurdistan region, together with the presidents of the legislature, the executive branch and the Kurdistan Regional District Council, issued a statement rejecting the February 15 resolution," she said. On June 4, 2022, the Judicial Council, as the highest judicial institution in the Kurdistan Region, issued a statement supporting the validity of the Oil and Gas Act of 2007, noting that article 92/paragraph II of the Iraqi Constitution stipulates that the Iraqi House of Representatives must pass a law establishing the Federal Court in Iraq, but no such law has been issued so far, so the Federal Supreme Court has not been established on the basis of the Constitution, which means that it has no "Constitutional authority to do such an act, as the Oil and Gas Act on the Kurdistan Region remains in force."

"On June 2, 2022, the KRG sued the director general of the Federal Government's Oil Ministry for exploiting his authority and position by intimidating and harassing companies operating in the Kurdistan region," she said. The KRG believes that the Director General was intimidating companies and interfering with their contractual rights with the KRG through letters and e-mails."

"On June 5, 2022, the Erbil Court of Inquiry ruled that cases against international companies should be referred from the Karkh Commercial Court to the Erbil Court of Inquiry for investigation as evidence of a criminal complaint." The Erbil Court of Inquiry also decided to postpone any legal proceedings brought before the Al-Karkh Court in this regard, based on the Iraqi Criminal Procedure Law No. (23) of 1979, which makes it imperative for the Iraqi Ministry of Oil to suspend work in the Civil Court until the court of inquiry's proceedings are completed and decided. Even after the investigation is completed on the basis of article (38) of the Iraqi Civil Pleading Act No. 83 of 1969, and in accordance with spatial jurisdiction, these cases must be judged and resolved by the Civil Court of the Kurdistan Region, where all the companies brought against them are registered and operated in kurdistan."

"On June 5, 2022, the Minister of Natural Resources of the Kurdistan Regional Government filed a civil suit against the Minister of Oil in the Federal Government and the Kurdistan Regional Government considers, in accordance with iraqi civil law, that the Minister of Oil of the Federal Government is responsible for sending letters and e-mails to these companies in order to intimidate them and interfere with their rights to contracts with the Kurdistan Regional Government," she said.

---

Views 77

Add 2022/06/13 - 9:44 PM

Updated 2022/06/14 - 12:00 AM

[boosterbglee]

On 6/12/2022 at 11:29 AM, horsesoldier said:

wheels of progress and all you get are is the political machinery of grinding gears, plenty of smoke & squealing noises from both sides

Squealing noises.........I think I know what's going on........nuff said!  🤣

[yota691]

The judiciary summons foreign oil companies operating in the region... and the Ministry of Wealth: a political action

• Time: 06/13/2022 20:24:24
•  
• Reading: 1,209 times

  

 

A statement issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources in the Kurdistan Regional Government

 The Commercial Court (Al-Karkh) in Baghdad summoned the international companies operating in the Kurdistan Region, at the request of the Iraqi Minister of Oil. The companies are (DNO), (Western Zagros), (HKN), (Sharman), (Ginnel Energy), (Addax) and (Gulf Keystone), which carry out their business in accordance with the oil and gas law in the region Kurdistan No. 22 of 2007, which was approved by the Kurdistan Parliament in accordance with the provisions of the Iraqi constitution.
This summons to the (Karkh) Court represents the latest in a series of illegal actions taken by the Minister of Oil in the caretaker government in Baghdad, and these illegal practices appear to be based on the ruling issued by a court in Baghdad calling itself the "Federal Supreme Court", which was issued in February 15, 2022, a politically motivated decision aimed at repealing the 2007 Oil and Gas Law in Kurdistan, while no court in Baghdad has the authority to take such a decision.
On February 28, 2022, the President of the Kurdistan Region, along with the heads of the legislative and executive authority, and the Kurdistan Regional Council, issued a statement rejecting the February 15 decision. On June 4, 2022, the Judicial Council, in its capacity as the highest judicial institution in the Kurdistan Region, issued a statement supporting the validity of the Oil and Gas Law of 2007. He also indicated that Article 92 / Paragraph Two of the Iraqi Constitution stipulates that the Iraqi Council of Representatives approves a law according to which The establishment of the Federal Court in Iraq, but no such law has been issued so far, and therefore the “Federal Supreme Court” was not established on the basis of the constitution, which means that it does not have any constitutional authority to do such a thing, as the oil and gas law related to the Kurdistan Region is still effective.
On June 2, 2022, the Kurdistan Regional Government filed a lawsuit in the Erbil Investigation Court against the Director General of the Ministry of Oil in the Federal Government, for abusing his authority and position by intimidating and harassing companies operating in the Kurdistan Region. The Kurdistan Regional Government believes that the Director General was practicing intimidation of companies and interference in their contractual rights with the Kurdistan Regional Government through letters and e-mail.
On June 5, 2022, the Erbil Investigation Court ruled that the cases brought against international companies from the Karkh Commercial Court should be referred to the Erbil Investigation Court for investigation as evidence of a criminal complaint. The Erbil Investigation Court also decided to postpone any legal case submitted to the (Al-Karkh) Court in this regard, based on the Iraqi Code of Criminal Procedure No. (23) of 1979, which requires the Iraqi Ministry of Oil to suspend work in the Civil Court until the completion of the investigation court procedures. And decide. Even after the completion of the investigation based on Article (38) of the Iraqi Civil Procedures Law No. 83 of 1969, and according to the spatial jurisdiction, these cases must be judged and resolved by the Civil Court in the Kurdistan Region, as all the companies against which the lawsuits are filed, are registered in the Kurdistan Region Kurdistan and work in it.
On June 5, 2022, the Minister of Natural Resources in the Kurdistan Regional Government filed a civil lawsuit against the Minister of Oil in the Federal Government. According to the provisions of the Iraqi Civil Code, the Kurdistan Regional Government considers that the Minister of Oil in the Federal Government is responsible for sending messages and e-mails to these companies with the aim of intimidating them and interfering with their rights in contracts concluded with the Kurdistan Regional Government.

Ministry of Natural Resources in the Kurdistan Regional Government

[6ly410]

 

[SocalDinar]

Oil Companies Face Huge Risk As Legal Dispute In Kurdistan Escalates

By Simon Watkins - Jun 14, 2022, 6:00 PM CDT

• Legal dispute beween the KRG and Baghdad could put all oil projects involving International Oil Companies at risk.
• A lack of legal clarity has been at the centre of this ongoing dispute since the fall of Hussein in 2003.
• The KRG's huge oil and gas reserves are the ultimate oil frontier in Iraq, but a very risky one.

Join Our Community

Future of IOCs operating in northern Iraq hangs in the balance

The long-running dispute over how oil flows are handled in the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq – administered by its government (the KRG, in Erbil) – and how the region is rewarded by the Federal Government of Iraq (FGI) in Baghdad for its co-operation in this regard has taken a series of dramatic legal twists in the past week or so. The outcome of these developments will have significant, and potentially catastrophic, implications for the exploration, development, and extraction operations of international oil companies (IOCs) working in the KRG-administered region. 

The basis of the dispute dates back to the formation of the new system of governance in Iraq in 2003, immediately after the fall of Saddam Hussein. At that time, it was broadly agreed that the KRG would export a certain volume of oil from its own fields and Kirkuk via Iraq’s State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO) and would not independently sell oil from the fields on the international markets. In return, Baghdad would disburse a certain level of payments to the KRG from Iraq’s central federal budget. From 2003 to November 2014, there was constant dispute from both sides that the other had not met the terms of that understanding. In November 2014, however, a deal was struck between the FGI and the KRG in which the KRG agreed to export up to 550,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil from its own fields and Kirkuk via SOMO. In return, Baghdad would send 17 percent of the federal budget after sovereign expenses (around US$500 million at that time) per month in budget payments to the Kurds. 

This agreement – which again functioned properly only sporadically – was then superseded by an understanding reached between the KRG and the new Iraqi federal government formed in October 2018 and centred on the 2019 national budget bill. This required the FGI to transfer sufficient funds from the budget to pay the salaries of KRG employees along with other financial compensation in exchange for the KRG handing over the export of at least 250,000 bpd of crude oil to SOMO. Since then, though, the FGI – nominally headed by various prime ministers but for a long period controlled behind the scenes by radical cleric Moqtada a-Sadr – delivered the funding for the salaries of the KRG employees on a monthly basis unreliably and the KRG has delivered the agreed upon volume of oil to SOMO in the same manner. 

Aside from the complications arising from the input into the deal of al-Sadr, matters were complicated further by the enormous presence of Russia in the KRG-administered region, especially after 2017. Russia effectively took control of the oil infrastructure in the northern region of Kurdistan in that year – via its corporate oil proxy, Rosneft – at first providing the KRG government with US$1.5 billion in financing through forward oil sales payable in the next three to five years. Then it took an 80 percent working interest in five potentially major oil blocks in the region together with corollary investment and technical, technology and equipment assistance. Finally, it established 60 percent ownership of the vital KRG-Turkey pipeline by dint of a commitment to invest US$1.8 billion to increase its capacity to one million barrels per day. Moscow considered itself well-placed at that point to leverage this presence into a similarly powerful position in the south of the country, in particular by striking new oil and gas field exploration and development deals with Baghdad. These new deals were to follow Russia’s role in intermediating in the perennial dispute between Kurdistan and the FGI in Baghdad on the budget disbursements-for-oil deal. In reality, Russia – far from mediating effectively to find a solution – instead sought to sow further discord between the two sides, as analysed in-depth in my new book on the global oil markets.

It is extremely apposite to note that the longstanding annoyance of Baghdad with the KRG’s on-again, off-again adherence to any version of the oil-for-budget disbursements deal struck in 2014 has only truly begun to show itself in sustained legal action following the international sanctions placed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. This began in earnest with two recent landmark legal rulings by the Supreme Court of the FGI in Baghdad, and the Iraq Oil Ministry’s proposal for the creation of a Kurdistan National Oil Company under the federal ownership of the government in the south of Iraq. This is aimed at stripping any authority that the KRG has over its heavily Russian-dominated oil industry and would render all previous contracts entered into between the KRG and oil companies subject to review. In this vein, Iraq’s Oil Ministry ordered the KRG to supply copies of all oil and gas contracts signed between the region’s government and IOCs over the past 18 years, as well as statements of related revenues. In an apparent show of support for Iraq’s Federal Government in Baghdad, the U.S. government granted Baghdad one of its longest ever waivers to continue to import gas and electricity from Iran as an interim solution to its domestic energy supply problems.

Last week saw a court in Baghdad postpone until June 20 a hearing of the Oil Ministry’s lawsuit against seven IOCs operating in Kurdistan, so that all of the defendants can be served with summonses and prepare the paperwork needed to send authorised representatives. At around the same time, according to local reports, the KRG initiated a separate lawsuit against the Oil Ministry, founded on the basis that the provisions of its oil law (‘Law No. 22, 2007’) do not violate the Iraqi Constitution and therefore should be recognised as ‘standing laws’. 

A lack of legal clarity has been at the centre of this ongoing dispute since the fall of Hussein in 2003. According to the KRG, it has authority under Articles 112 and 115 of the Iraq Constitution to manage oil and gas in the Kurdistan Region extracted from fields that were not in production in 2005 – the year that the Constitution was adopted by referendum. In addition, the KRG maintains that Article 115 states: “All powers not stipulated in the exclusive powers of the federal government belong to the authorities of the regions and governorates that are not organised in a region.” As such, the KRG maintains that as relevant powers are not otherwise stipulated in the Constitution, it has the authority to sell and receive revenue from its oil and gas exports. The KRG also highlights that the Constitution provides that, should a dispute arise, priority shall be given to the law of the regions and governorates. However, the FGI and SOMO argue that under Article 111 of the Constitution oil and gas are under the ownership of all the people of Iraq in all the regions and governorates. 

The stakes for the IOCs operating in the northern Iraq region of Kurdistan and for Baghdad could not be higher, given the huge realised and potential oil and gas reserves in the region and the fact that much of the whole country’s key oil export infrastructure into Europe runs through the KRG-administered area (in the shape of the pipelines going into the Turkish port of Ceyhan). The International Energy Agency (IEA) back in 2012 highlighted that prior to the then-recent rise in exploration activity in the KRG area, more than half of the exploratory wells in Iraq had been drilled prior to 1962, ‘a time when technical limits and a low oil price gave a much tighter definition of a commercially successful well than would be the case today’. Based on the previous limited exploration and development of oil fields in the KRG area, the proven oil reserves figure at that earlier time was first put at around 4 billion barrels. This was subsequently upgraded by the KRG to around 45 billion barrels but, again, but the IEA said in 2012 that this might turn out to be a very conservative estimate. Additionally, it added, Kurdistan’s Ministry of Natural Resources estimated back in 2012 that there was 25 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of proven gas reserves and up to 198 Tcf of unproven gas resources, around 3 percent of the world’s total deposits. The figures looked realistic, added the IEA at that point, given that the US Geological Survey believed that undiscovered resources in just the Zagros fold belt of Iraq, a large part of which falls in the KRG area, amounted to around 54 Tcf of gas.

By Simon Watkins for Oilprice.com

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Oil-Companies-Face-Huge-Risk-As-Legal-Dispute-In-Kurdistan-Escalates.html

[Goggles]

Week. Isn’t Iraq, as a country, selling their oil under an old Federal system that should have been gone when the new constitution ( that UN helped them develop) went into effect? And isn’t this the same old Federal system they are trying to use to threaten the Kurdistan region and their international oil company buyers? It seems to me that Iraq could stand to loose most if not all of their oil business if the don’t get their act together. But I’m no expert. You decide. 

[6ly410]

 

[yota691]

In The Document... Baghdad Begins Implementing The Judiciary's Decision Regarding Kurdistan's Oil And Threatens The Violating Companies With The "Black List"

 

LAST UPDATE 06/15/2022 | 10:35 AM

 

[yota691]

Iraq .. a 3-month deadline to stop extracting oil from the Kurdistan region

l 3 hours ago

/images/v1/2022/06/16/1531524/900/506/1-1531524.PNG

 

Abu Dhabi - Sky News Arabia

The Iraqi Oil Ministry gave the oil companies operating in the Kurdistan region three months to stop oil exploration in the region. The ministry required these companies to submit written pledges, obligating them to implement the decisions of the Federal Court.

[6ly410]

 

How true is the information that the central government is about to seize control of the region's oil?

Posted 52 seconds ago

 

How true is the information that the central government is about to seize control of the region's oil? - Iraq news (iraqakhbar-com.translate.goog)

news source /Iraq Today Agency

Baghdad - Iraq today:

The Parliamentary Oil and Energy Committee confirmed that the oil companies operating in the region will be subject to the decision of the Federal Oil Ministry.

Committee member Ali Al-Shukri said, "The oil companies operating in the Kurdistan region will be committed to the ministry's decision, noting that the failure of the region and oil companies to respond to the decision of the Federal Court, will prompt the Ministry of Oil to go to the International Court because its decisions are legal and subject to the Federal Court."

And between, "The dialogue table is still open between the Ministry of Oil and the region regarding Kurdistan's oil, and I hope that the situation will be contained by the region."

Earlier, the Ministry of Oil decided that companies working in oil projects in Iraq would submit a pledge not to work in oil and gas projects in Kurdistan.

And the ministry continued, “In the event that there are current contracts or projects in Kurdistan, they must be terminated within a period of three months,” indicating “and in the event of non-compliance by foreign companies, they are placed on the blacklist and it is prohibited to deal with them.”

[6ly410]

KRG files Civil suit against Baghdad Minister of Oil

16th June 2022 in Iraq Oil & Gas News, Politics

By John Lee. KRG files Civil suit against Baghdad Minister of Oil | Iraq Business News (iraq-businessnews.com)

The Minister of Natural Resources of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has filed a civil suit against the Baghdad Minister of Oil, accusing him of sending emails and letters with the intention of intimidating international oil companies (IOCs) and interfering with the contractual rights of the IOCs and the KRG.

The KRG has also filed a criminal complaint against a Director General in the Baghdad Ministry of Oil for allegedly abusing his power and position by intimidating and harassing the IOCs working in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

This follows a series of summonses issued to the IOCs by a court in Baghdad, relating to their operations in Kurdistan Region.

Full statement from the KRG:

On 19 May 2022, a commercial court sitting in Al Karkh, Baghdad, acted at the request of the Minister of Oil in Baghdad and purported to issue summonses to international oil companies (IOCs) operating within the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Those IOCs - which include Addax, DNO, Genel, Gulf Keystone, HKN, Shamaran, and WesternZagros - operate in the Kurdistan Region in accordance with the Kurdistan Region's Oil and Gas Law (No. 22 of 2007), which was issued by the Kurdistan Regional Government in accordance with its powers under the Constitution of Iraq.

These court summonses are the latest in a series of illegal actions taken by the Minister of Oil and his staff under the current caretaker government in Baghdad. These illegal actions are apparently based upon a ruling by a court in Baghdad that calls itself the "Federal Supreme Court". This so-called "Federal Supreme Court" issued a politically motivated decision on 15 February 2022, which purported to declare the 2007 Oil and Gas Law void.

 

No court in Baghdad has the authority to make such a declaration. On 28 February 2022, the President of the Kurdistan Region, together with the presidents of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the Kurdistan Regional Government, issued a statement rejecting the 15 February decision. On 4 June 2022, the Judicial Council, the highest judicial institution in the Kurdistan Region, issued a statement upholding the validity of the 2007 Oil and Gas Law. The Council noted that Article 92(2) of the Constitution of Iraq requires that the Iraqi Council of Representatives pass a law to establish an Iraqi Federal Supreme Court. No such law has ever been enacted. Iraq, therefore, does not have a constitutionally established Federal Supreme Court. The court that issued the 15 February 2022 opinion purporting to invalidate the 2007 Oil and Gas Law has no constitutional authority to do so. On the contrary, the issuance of the 2007 Oil and Gas Law was entirely authorised under the Constitution of Iraq. As such, legally, the Oil and Gas Law remains in full force.

On 2 June 2022, the Kurdistan Regional Government filed a criminal complaint against a Director General in the Baghdad Ministry of Oil for abusing his power and position by intimidating and harassing the IOCs working in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. In the view of the Kurdistan Regional Government, emails and letters sent to the IOCs undertaking work in the Kurdistan Region by that Director General were sent with the intention of intimidating the IOCs and interfering with the contractual rights of the IOCs and the Kurdistan Regional Government. The contracts entered into between the IOCs and the Kurdistan Regional Government are entirely in accordance with the 2007 Oil and Gas Law.

On 5 June 2022, the Erbil Court of Investigation ruled that the lawsuits filed in the Al Karkh commercial court against the IOCs must be brought to the Erbil Court to be examined as evidence in this criminal complaint. The Erbil Court also ruled that any lawsuits in the Al Karkh court must be delayed for this purpose, and that named criminal defendants, including the Baghdad Minister of Oil, must attend the criminal hearing in Erbil on 22 June 2022. Iraqi law (Article 26 of Criminal Procedural Law No. 23 of the year 1979) requires that civil proceedings cannot take place while a related criminal investigation is underway. In addition, Article 38 of Civil Procedural Law No. 83 of the year 1969 states that any civil proceeding against the IOCs must take place in the Kurdistan Region, where the IOCs are registered and operate.

Furthermore, on 5 June 2022 the Minister of Natural Resources of the Kurdistan Regional Government filed a civil suit against the Baghdad Minister of Oil. In the view of the Kurdistan Regional Government, the Minister is liable under applicable civil law provisions for sending emails and letters with the intention of intimidating the IOCs and interfering with the contractual rights of the IOCs and the Kurdistan Regional Government.

(Source: KRG Ministry of Natural Resources)

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The Iraqi oil ministry has given three months period for IOCs working in the northern Kurdistan region to terminate their oil and gas contracts signed with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), otherwise, they will be blacklisted, according to a document seen by The New Arab and confirmed as authentic by a former Iraqi lawmaker. 

Iraq's Supreme Federal Court ruled in February that Kurdistan's Oil and Gas Law No. 22 passed by the Kurdistan parliament in 2007 to regulate its oil and gas industry is unconstitutional. The court then ordered the Iraqi government to take measures and force the Kurdish authorities to hand over their crude supplies to the Iraqi federal government. 

The KRG ministry of natural resources Monday in a statement described the decision by Iraq's Supreme Federal Court on 15 February as "politically motivated" and said that the court's ruling was not aligned with the Iraqi constitution.

The ministry stated that multiple oil companies working in the region, including DNO, western Zagros, Gulf Keystone, Genel Energy, and Shamaran received a letter on 19 May summoning them to appear at the Commercial Court in Baghdad on 5 June. 

According to the statement on 5 June, the KRG minister of natural resources filed a civilian legal case against the Iraqi oil minister, Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar for "sending emails to the IOCs to threaten them." 

"The Iraqi oil ministry has been threatening and sending provocative emails to the IOCs working in the Kurdistan region for a long period according to the region's oil and gas law. Those actions are indeed a legal breach towards the rights of those companies," Bewar Khansi, advisor to the KRG Prime Minister for energy affairs and an expert in oil and gas told TNA in a phone interview. 

"Thus, the KRG ministry of natural resources filed a legal case in a court in Erbil against the Iraqi oil minister as well as the director-general in the ministry for trespassing the Iraqi laws that stipulate legal cases should be filed in the same place where the events happen. The Erbil court has ruled that the legal case in the Commercial Court in Baghdad against the IOCs should be halted and transferred to be seen by courts in the Kurdistan region," Khansi added.  

A copy of the document by the Iraqi oil ministry was posted by Kurdish social media users.

He also called on the Iraqi parliament to investigate the issues between Baghdad and Erbil and to note that the Iraqi caretaker government of PM Mustafa al-Kadhimi "does not have the authority to complicate the issues in this complex political period in Iraq."   

The document was dated 7 June and signed by Karim Khatab Jaafer deputy of the Iraqi oil minister for extraction affairs. The Iraqi official ordered the Iraqi National Oil Company that within the measures taken for the implementation of the decision by the supreme court, the company should inform all IOCs working in Iraq to present a legal commitment that they would not work in the Kurdistan region's oil and gas sector in violation of the provisions of the supreme court's decision.

"For those IOCs that already have signed contracts with the KRG, they should terminate them within three months from being informed. In case the companies did not commit to the content of this document, they would be blacklisted and doing business with them will be banned," reads the document. 

 Ghalib Mohammed Ali, a former Iraqi lawmaker and former member of the energy committee of the Iraqi parliament, confirmed the authenticity of the document and told TNA in a phone call that "if the IOCs that are working in the Kurdistan region do not implement those measures by the Iraqi oil ministry, then they would be blacklisted and consequently cannot work in any projects in Iraq."

"Kar Group and Qaiwan Group, two Kurdish companies that have many projects in Iraq, accordingly can no longer work in areas under the control of the Iraqi government," Ali added. 

He clarified that although the document is locally binding in Iraq, the Iraqi oil ministry can file legal cases against the IOCs in their original countries. 

"These measures by Iraq could make the KRG ministry of natural resources unable to work with the IOCs and then export the Kurdish oil easily to the international markets unless the KRG fully commits to the measures of the Iraqi oil ministry," Ali clarified. "I think the IOCs eventually will not take a major risk with their projects in Iraq for the sake of continuing working with the KRG. For example, British Petroleum (BP), which produces one million and half of the oil per day in Iraq, would not risk that for the sake of working in the Kurdistan region."

TNA contacted Asim Jihad, the spokesperson of the Iraqi oil ministry, but he was not immediately available to comment

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Today, the Information and Information Department of the Kurdistan Regional Government met with a number of Arab and Middle Eastern media to discuss the ongoing dialogue between Erbil and Baghdad, particularly on issues related to the oil and gas file in Kurdistan. The two sides also discussed the media situation in Kurdistan and Iraq in general.

 

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We also explained to the audience the details of the agenda behind the unconstitutional and illegal decision of the so-called Iraqi federal court.

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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The ruling of the top Iraqi court against Kurdish oil causes further issues in Iraq rather than solutions, an economist and oil expert told Rudaw on Saturday.

The decision of the Iraqi federal court caused problems as it did not solve anything, confusing the oil companies working in the Kurdistan Region, as well as the future of the industry across Iraq, Adnan al-Janabi told Rudaw’s Mohammed Sheikh Fatih in an interview in Baghdad.

“The world will view us differently if we confuse the contracts the Region has signed which have been in action for 15 years,” Janabi added.

The Iraqi top court in February found the Kurdistan Region’s oil and gas law to be “unconstitutional,” therefore striking down the legal basis for the independence of the Region’s oil and gas sector. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) responded to the decision, saying that the court’s ruling is not only “unconstitutional” but also “unjust.”

“We must have serious negotiations between the Region and the federal government to exit the crisis that the federal court created in regards of Kurdistan’s oil and gas law,” Janabi added.

Janabi served as an adviser at the Iraqi oil ministry from 1975 to 1976 and as a minister of state in the Iraqi government between 2004 and 2005.

He said Baghdad and Erbil can solve the issues engulfing the oil and gas industry by setting principles and “re-forming a joint board of oil and energy, not sponsored by the Iraqi oil ministry nor supervised by the Region only but a joint board with a political harmony.”

Disputes arose between Baghdad and Erbil in early 2014, when Baghdad cut the Region’s share of the federal budget, setting into motion a series of crises that the KRG still suffers from. By March 2014, the KRG started exporting its oil abroad in an attempt to secure the salaries of its employees.

The Iraqi and Kurdish governments were once again brought around the table in 2021 when Iraq was drafting its budget law. Both sides agreed that the KRG would continue its oil sales and would hand the revenue of 250,000 barrels of oil to Baghdad daily.

There are 52 oil blocks in the Kurdistan Region, 16 of them are in production, and 15 are in exploration phases. Over 30 international and local companies are working in the sector. The Region produces around 450,000 barrels per day.

The KRG last year pocketed a net of almost $4 billion in selling oil.

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Minister of Oil: We are following all legal tools to implement the Federal Court's decision regarding the region's oil

• Time: 06/19/2022 14:01:47
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• Reading: 715 times

  

{Economic: Al Furat News} Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar announced that the ministry "is implementing the decision of the Federal Court regarding the oil of the Kurdistan region of Iraq."

"We will follow all the legal and legal tools that enable us to implement the court's decision, and we will follow it," Abdul-Jabbar added.
It is noteworthy that Baghdad is seeking to implement the Federal Supreme Court's decision issued last February that the region was unconstitutional for the region to sell oil extracted from the region's lands outside the authority of the federal government.
And Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar said, on the seventh of last May, that "the ministry will start implementing the ruling of the Federal Court, which considered the legal foundations of the oil and gas sector in the Kurdistan region unconstitutional."
After that, Iraq asked the oil and gas companies operating in the Kurdistan region to sign new contracts with the state-owned marketing company {SOMO} instead of the regional government.
The regional government rejected the court's decision and considered it "politicised."